Monterey County Statewide Articles

Benicia Voters Pass Measure F, Raising Local Sales Tax a Half-Cent to Fund Street Repairs

Benicia voters appear to have passed a measure to increase the city’s sales tax to fund road infrastructure needs.Measure F was approved by 61 percent of voters, according to unofficial results on the Solano County Registrar of Voters website. The …

Oakland Unified Wrestles With Lead in Water. Most California Schools Are in the Dark

A California law that required school districts to test drinking water for lead failed to include provisions that would've provided an accurate representation of lead presence in schools.

Lead Levels in California Schools’ Drinking Water (Updated 2024)

Use this searchable map to browse the tests result at the more than 7,500 California schools which have already conducted tests for lead.

Pablo Benavente Still Holds Slim Over Edi Birsan in Concord District 4 City Council Race

Pablo Benavente still led Mayor Edi Birsan in Concord’s District 4 City Council race, according to the latest tally released by the Contra Costa County Elections Office on Friday afternoon. Benavente was ahead by 104 votes (35.37%, 3,732 votes) over …

Robert Jweinat Still Has Edge Over Vasanth Shetty in San Ramon District 1 Council Race

Robert Jweinat led Vasanth Shetty by 142 votes in their race for San Ramon’s District 1 City Council seat., according to the latest tally released by the Contra Costa County Elections Office. Jweinat had 50.87% of the vote (4.144 votes) …

California Retains No. 1 Ranking for International Student Enrollment as Concerns Grow Over Trump

A new report from Open Doors again ranked California as the top destination for international students. But concerns are growing over how foreigners at universities could fare under a second Trump term.

Belle La Has 25-Vote Lead Over Marshall Lewis in Pleasant Hill’s District 1 City Council Race

Belle La still has a slim lead in the race for the District 1 City Council seat in Pleasant Hill, according to the latest vote tally released by Contra Costa County election officials. La’s lead over Marshall Lewis increased from …

Adena Ishii Emerges as New Leader in Berkeley Mayoral Race After Latest Election Results

Berkeley’s mayoral race in last week’s election has a new leader after the latest results released by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.Adena Ishii had 24,265 votes after four rounds of ranked choice voting, 51.2% of the votes tallied so …

Oakland Councilmember Bas Takes Narrow Lead in Alameda District 5 Supervisor Race

Oakland City Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas is narrowly ahead in the race for the District 5 seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, according to the latest results released by the county.Bas was behind Emeryville City Councilmember John Bauters …

New Vote Tallies Show Tight Race for Marin D2 Supe, Stronger Leads for Sausalito Council Seats

Brian Colbert appears to leads Heather McPhail Sridharan by just 617 votes as of Friday in the runoff election for the District 2 seat on the Marin County Board of Supervisors.According to the new count, Ian Sobieski, Steven Woodside and …

Shanelle Scales-Preston Still Leads Mike Barbanica in Contra Costa Supervisor Race

Shanelle Scales-Preston increased her lead over Mike Barbanica to 3,219 votes in the runoff race to succeed Federal Glover on the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors. In the latest count released by county elections officials Friday afternoon, the Pittsburg …

Car Fleeing Police Slams Into Culver City House, Dragging 300 Feet of Guardrail

A car with four people in it slammed into a house in Culver City, smashing into the living room, after a high-speed police pursuit. One person was arrested.

Laphonza Butler Reflects on Her Brief Senate Career, the Presidential Race and Her Future

After being appointed to fill the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein's seat, Laphonza Butler served for 13 months. Her next goal is getting up to speed on her daughter's new hobby: competitive cheerleading.

With Financial Aid Fraud Growing, California’s Community Colleges Turn to Tech to Fight Back

SINCE THE COVID-19 pandemic, California’s community colleges have been plagued by scammers who pose as students and enroll to steal financial aid — and now it’s getting even worse. The state’s 116-college system has lost more than $7.5 million to …

Why the AI-ification of Workplaces May Move Slower Than We Think, Despite Corporate Hype

For the last 1.5 years since ChatGPT launched, workers and business leaders have been singing two different tunes about the advent of generative artificial intelligence.From the C-suites, there is excitement and optimism about cost savings and improved productivity—but among the …

Plane Crashes at Pomona Drag Strip, Jolting NHRA Championship Finals

Two people were critically injured Sunday when a single-engine plane crashed near the track during the National Hot Rod Assn. finals at the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

Stop of RV on California Highway Uncovers Woman's Kidnapping, Officials Say

A California man is in custody after a routine traffic stop yielded a terrifying situation, officials said.

Schools Brace for Trump’s Attacks on Immigrants, Trans Students and ‘Woke’ Curriculum

Education has never been a top priority of President-elect Donald Trump’s, but that doesn’t mean schools — or students — will be immune from Trump’s agenda in the next four years, education experts say. Trump may slash school funding, cut …

Over 30 Place Names in California to Replace Racist Slur by Jan. 1

Over 30 places in 15 California counties will be getting new names by Jan. 1, 2025.

Fire on the Mountain: Prescribed Burns on Mt. Diablo Will Create Smoke, Improve Habitat

Mount Diablo State Park will likely be on fire next week.This isn’t the prognostication of some super psychic meteorologist, but a notice from California State Parks, which plans to conduct prescribed burns on the mountain on one or more days …